Showbiz Sandbox 552: Disney and the Great “Shang-Chi” Experiment
August 19, 2021
First Disney tried to shame Scarlett Johansson for daring to sue them over the studios distribution strategy on “Black Widow.” Then during an earnings call the company’s CEO described the upcoming Marvel “Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings” as an “interesting experiment.” Simu Liu, the star of “Shang-Chi,” was quick to push back on such thinking, saying “We are the underdog; the underestimated.”
Meanwhile, actor Johnny Depp believes he is an underdog as well these days, claiming in an interview with The Sunday Times that Hollywood is boycotting him. International film festivals are doing the exact opposite however, honoring Depp for his body of work.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including “Funny Girl” is headed back to Broadway, the television game show “Jeopardy” officially has two new hosts and production of “The Lord of the Rings” Amazon series moves from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.
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Showbiz Sandbox 171: Cost Of Sports Could Be Cable’s Unbundling
November 26, 2012
The rights to broadcast Major League Baseball games through 2021 were recently scooped up by ESPN for a cool $5.6 billion. That’s nothing compared to the $15.2 billion the network will be paying the NFL for “Monday Night Football” over the next eight years. Now News Corp. has coughed up billions for a stake in the New York Yankees network and are on the verge of paying a rumored $6 billion for the rights to air Los Angeles Dodger baseball games for 25-years. Some cable operators are now saying the skyrocketing costs of sports programming is out of control and unrealistic.
Since we’re talking about billions of dollars, we may as well mention Sony Pictures. Thanks to films such as “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “Skyfall” the studio has taken in more than $4 billion worldwide this year at the box office. Lionsgate isn’t doing too bad either, earning $1 billion with releases such as “Hunger Games” and “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”.
In fact, the North American box office is on pace to set a new record this year, much like the grosses recorded over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The $290 million was a new high for the four day period.
Of course, we also cover all the big entertainment headlines from the past two weeks including the ongoing sexual abuse scandal rocking Sesame Street, the death of actor Larry Hagman and NBC’s big win during the November sweeps.
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